The successful ‘Fostering EU-Latin America ICT Policy Dialogue’ event has paved the way to an innovative concept of EU-Latin America cooperation for research and development
“Fostering EU-Latin America ICT Policy Dialogue’ event, held on 28/29 November in Brussels, achieved the challenging objective of bringing together an articulated critical mass of stakeholders and initiatives that are active in S&T research cooperation between Europe and Latin America. Different speakers and participants remarked the big opportunity that the event represented: officers of research and innovation agencies, researchers, industry and industry federation representatives, ministries and government delegates from both shores of the Atlantic totaling about 150 people, attended. The event was opened by the Ambassador of Chile in his Capacity as President of the Latin American and the Caribbean countries in their dialogue with the European Union and received the official salutation of the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies of Colombia and the Minister of Education and Culture of Uruguay. An intense full day of technical work followed, where panelists from industry, government, academia, research as well as the European Commission, sharply presented their experiences, best practices and success cases looking for a concrete interaction and fruitful synergies with all presenters and participants. Following the output and intense work and debates held on the first day of the event, strong policy messages were delivered the next day taking advantage of an exceptional location, the European Parliament, where the final session of ‘EU-Latin America ICT Policy Dialogue’ was organized. Government representatives of Latin-American countries remarked the importance and advancement of ICT in their countries and the pivotal role that Europe plays in this strategy. Additional messages were received by LA industry representatives, who highlighted the relevance for industry to be involved and to influence the policy dialogue in order to boost innovation and productive cooperation. A similar point was highlighted by the academia representatives, who brought the audience attention on the ultimate aim of the policy dialogue in ICT: making innovative projects that will benefit the society in both EU and LA. The technological potential and interest to cooperate from Latin America is indeed a fact: earlier that day, in a meeting room of the European Parliament packed to capacity, LA delegations from throughout the region could stage a brilliant and dynamic showcase of ideas, project presentations, and success stories of ICT and research in front of European research and industry stakeholders, European Commission officers and Members of the European Parliament. Interconnecting research and innovation, as well as business, research centres and networks, is a main output of the conference. Under the initiative of the organizing and supporting projects and in particular the coordination of the FP7 FORESTA project, a specific instrument to continue and reinforce this process has been proposed: the Joint Declaration to strengthen EU-LAC cooperation in ICT R&D+i. The Declaration grounds on studies, activities and consultations performed by stakeholders partnered in a number of project initiatives and follows the identification of shared issues, challenges, and priorities for EU-LAC cooperation in the field. The Declaration was presented to the conference stakeholders and was subsequently received at the European Parliament by the European Commission representative Mr. Carlos Oliveira, who remarked the alignment of many points raised in it with the Commission directions, in particular of the IST Advisory Group (ISTAG). The Joint Declaration is an evolving document. EU and LA stakeholders in ICT international cooperation are invited to give their contribution to enlarge its impact and advance the EU-LA ICT dialogue for research and innovation.The Joint Declaration, as well as presentations and videos delivered at ‘Fostering EU-Latin America ICT Policy Dialogue’, are published in the FORESTA project website: www.forestaproject.eu.
Countries
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom